


No One But You

by misura



Category: The Daevabad Trilogy - S. A. Chakraborty
Genre: F/M, Virgin Darayavahoush e-Afshin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 01:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21467584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you," Dara said.
Relationships: Darayavahoush e-Afshin/Nahri
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	No One But You

Dara's skin felt hot to the touch, and Nahri wanted nothing more than to wrap herself around that heat.

_Finally._ Not that Dara hadn't been worth waiting for, but in hindsight, she saw so many ways in which she might have had this earlier, different choices she might have made, events that might have fallen out differently with just a bit of luck.

"Nahri." Dara shivered. The expression on his face made Nahri want to weep.

That wouldn't be very constructive though, so she tried to hold him tighter instead, to ensure that this time, he wouldn't slip through her fingers again. This time, she wouldn't let go, no matter what.

"Nahri," Dara said again. Nahri didn't mind. The way her name sounded coming from Dara, he might repeat it as often as he liked. "I - you were married to - for years."

Nahri felt as if Dara had just emptied a bucket of cold water over her head. "W-what?" Was Dara really going to hold that against her? _Now?_

Dara must have read some of her feelings off of her face. He kissed her, quick and light, as if he, too, was still trying to believe that this was real, that this was happening. "I only meant - I'm not your husband."

"Neither is my husband," Nahri said, her tone a bit sharper than she'd have liked. In a way, she supposed that she'd been lucky. Muntadhir hadn't really been interested in women. He'd done what he saw as his marital duty, but apart from those occasions, he had been content to seek his pleasure elsewhere. "Not anymore, anyway."

"I'm not explaining this very well." Dara sighed, sounding rueful. "It's just - Nahri."

_Why don't you keep saying my name like that? There's nothing I can think of we need to talk about right now - or ever._ Well, Nahri supposed that there were _some_ things, but ... _We won. We deserve a bit of happiness right now._

"Nahri," Dara said, and this time, Nahri kissed him, not quick and light but slow and deep. She couldn't seem to decide where to put her hands. She wanted to touch Dara everywhere, marveling in the way his skin felt against her own, the way she felt his body respond when she discovered the places where Dara was particularly sensitive. "Nahri! Stop! I have to - "

_You have to keep kissing me back and touching me and letting me kiss and touch you in return._

Nahri forced herself to stillness. "Can't this wait?" She hoped she sounded patient. She didn't feel it.

"No." Dara took a deep breath, as if his body still required air. "Nahri. It's not you - you're perfect, and I love you, and I want to be with you more than anything in this world. More than I have ever wanted anything, aside from my people's freedom."

"And?" Nahri did not see how any of that could be a bad thing. She had a sinking feeling that she was about to find out, though. She wondered why Dara had waited until now to bring it up, when he could have spoken up before, preventing her from looking and feeling like a fool for thinking this would happen. For believing that she would get her happy ending, spending the rest of her life with Dara.

"I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you," Dara said.

Nahri wanted to kick him and tell him to spit out the problem already, instead of keep giving her false hope. Then she saw the expression on Dara's face and realized that as far as Dara was concerned, he just had.

It didn't sound like much of a problem.

"Thank you?" Nahri tried to puzzle her way through the clues. Dara's nearness kept distracting her. The way his body felt against hers - who could expect her to think clearly in a situation like this?

Dara grimaced. "I meant - well, I meant what I said, of course. But - " He seemed almost embarrassed.

Suddenly, Nahri got it. The relief of her realization made her feel almost giddy. She felt an entirely inappropriate urge to giggle. She forced it down, suspecting Dara would not take it well at all.

"You're a virgin." Nobody had touched Dara the way Nahri had. Nobody had kissed him the way Nahri had - or, well, maybe someone had, but they had never gone beyond kissing.

_Kind of like me and Dara, until now._ Nahri tried to keep a cool head, to stay sensible.

"Yes," Dara said. "I - I don't want to disappoint you. Or hurt you, or do something wrong," he added.

"You won't," Nahri said, though part of her added, _You already have_. She had been as much a part of the events in their past as Dara had, after all. They had both made their own choices. It was easy to look back on those choices and find the mistakes, and much more difficult to realize that at the time, they had seemed like the smartest, most sensible course of action. "You are my Afshin." _And I will never let you leave me behind again._

Dara's expression was still uncertain. "But - "

Nahri decided she'd much rather hear him repeat her name than that particular word. "I am your Nahid. Can't you trust me?" She hated how pleading she sounded. "Besides, what did you want me to do about it? Find you someone to practice with first?"

Dara blinked. "Practice?"

Nahri wanted to hit him. Kissing him until he'd stop talking might be more constructive. Unfortunately, that might not stop him from _thinking_. "Trust that I know what I'm doing even if you don't. Can't you do that? Because to be honest, I don't see any alternative." Other than for Dara to die a virgin, which Nahri hoped wasn't what he intended. Or wanted.

"Well, if you put it like that." Dara still sounded hesitant, unconvinced. "But Nahri - "

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Or let you hurt me," Nahri added, since that would probably worry Dara more. "Just let me take care of everything. Relax. Stop overthinking this."

"I can't seem to help myself." Dara sighed. "I never thought - and then - "

Nahri hadn't thought they would come back together again like this either. She had hoped, and she had dreamt, but the practical part of her mind had already accepted that it would never happen, that she had lost her chance.

"Well, you know, the way our lives have been going so far, something might happen any moment now. So we should probably hurry and get on with it," Nahri said. "Unless you'd prefer to sit here and wait?"

Before he could answer, she moved her hands, pressing her body to his in a way she hoped would make it clear that sitting around and waiting certainly wouldn't be _her_ preference.

"Nahri," Dara said, with something that was half laugh and half sob, and then he pulled her against him for another kiss. "Nahri. My Nahid."

_Now, let's hope I was wrong about someone going to interrupt us any moment now because the world is about to end or something like that._


End file.
